Third Site for Travis County Government
Austin, Travis County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Courthouse built here in 1939, 91st year of Travis County, which in early Texas was in municipality of Mina (later Bastrop), or Travis District, named for Wm. B.Travis, commander at the Alamo. Site of present-day Austin was chosen in 1839 (4th year of the Republic of Texas) as location for capital, and named for the father of Texas. Local county government began immediately, with setting up of militia beats. Mormon settlers in 1839 built the first jail and also the first gristmill. Congress in January 1840 formally created the county, which by then had 856 people. 5 forts were in operation to guard against Comanche Indians, whose raids went on as late as 1863. Dams in the Colorado River provided industrial power and created fine recreation lakes. State government, University of Texas, Bergstorm Air Force Base, public institutions and private businesses employ working forces from the county population of 237,000. The county's 125th anniversary was attended 1964 under the administration of Judge J. H. Watson and commissioners Robert Barker, Lawson Boothe, N. L. Gault and Arthur Swenson. Historic county emblem was restored and sponsored by county auditor Weldon S.Horton. Flag was designed by Mrs.Jessie McIlroy Smith. (1965)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
When Austin was chosen in 1839 as capital of the young Republic of Texas, local government sprang up around it—militia beats, a Mormon-built jail and gristmill, and forts to guard against Comanche raids that continued into the 1860s. Congress formally created Travis County in 1840, naming it for Alamo commander William B. Travis, and the county seat has anchored state government, the University of Texas, and a fast-growing population ever since. This marker accompanied the courthouse built here in 1939 and the county's 125th anniversary in 1964.
Why it matters
Travis County's founding story is the story of Texas statehood itself, growing from a frontier outpost guarded against raids into the seat of the state's government and capital city.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · William B. Travis
- · Stephen F. Austin
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Central Christian Church
Austin, TX
In 1847, only eight years after Austin was platted, ten members of the Disciples of Christ gathered to organize this congregation on the young Texas capital's frontier. By 1852 they were worshiping in a local schoolhouse, later building at Eighth and Colorado before moving to this site in 1929, and weathering a theological split in 1888 that left the church led by its laity until a pastor was appointed in 1896. As one of Austin's oldest congregations, Central Christian took its current name early in the 20th century and helped establish several other churches in the growing city.
The Governor's Mansion
Austin, TX
Built in 1855–1856 in stately Greek Revival style, the Texas Governor's Mansion is one of the oldest continuously occupied executive residences in the nation. Pioneer architect-contractor Abner Cook raised its six massive Ionic columns from pine logs hauled and adzed from Bastrop and set them over walls of Austin-made brick. Within these walls Sam Houston wrestled with secession in 1861, and generations of governors have hosted presidents and heads of state, making the house a living repository of Texas history.
Site of Haynie-Cook House
Austin, TX
In 1852 the noted Austin architect Abner Cook—then also at work on the new Texas State Capitol—built a Federal-style home here for Dr. Samuel Garner Haynie, four-time mayor of Austin. Financial trouble soon forced Haynie to sell to Cook, and over the following century the house passed through the hands of mayors, state supreme court justices, and shopkeepers before being rolled on logs to make way for new development. Both it and the neighboring Nalle-Sharp House were demolished by 1953, and a mid-century high-rise rose in their place.
First United Methodist Church of Austin
Austin, TX
In 1840, only a year after Austin was laid out as capital of the young Republic of Texas, a Methodist circuit rider named John Haynie gathered fourteen members into a fellowship that first worshiped in temporary quarters — including the Republic's own Capitol building. The congregation built a wooden church on Congress Avenue in 1847, later a brick edifice at Brazos and 10th, and finally the Neo-Classical structure on the present property purchased in 1921. In 1853 doctors meeting in its original building organized the Texas Medical Association.